Virginia Advances Three Wrestlers to Quarterfinals at NCAA Championships
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March 21, 2013
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DES MOINES, Iowa – Virginia advanced three wrestlers to the quarterfinal round at the 2013 NCAA Championships Thursday evening at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. Eight of the nine Virginia competitors remain alive heading into the second day of competition, and the Cavaliers stand in 18th place in the team standings with 10 points.
The quarterfinals and second round of wrestlebacks begin at 11 a.m. ET Friday. The quarterfinal matches will air on ESPNU and online via ESPN3.
This marks the first time Virginia has advanced eight wrestlers past the first day of competition.
“It was an amazing day for our program,” Virginia head coach Steve Garland said. “We’re excited to have eight guys advancing and three in the quarterfinals. It’s a big deal and we’re very excited about it. Our guys wrestled hard all day and it showed in the results. We’re looking forward to getting after it again Friday.”
Virginia’s big upset of the day came at 157 pounds, where 12th-seeded Jedd Moore (R-Sr., Mount Vernon, Ohio) scored a reversal and two-point near fall in the third period to earn a 4-0 win over fifth-seeded James Fleming of Clarion. Moore topped South Dakota State’s Cody Pack, 6-0, earlier in the day. Moore will wrestle unseeded David Bonin of Northern Iowa in the quarters with the opportunity to earn All-America honors.
No. 8 seed Matt Snyder (R-Sr., Lewistown, Pa.) won convincingly over No. 9 seed Trent Sprenkle of North Dakota State, 10-6, at 125 pounds to claim a spot in the quarters. Snyder defeated Old Dominion’s Rob Deutsch, 10-4, on Thursday morning. He will wrestle top-seeded Alan Waters Friday morning in the quarterfinals with the chance to clinch All-America honors. Waters bounced Snyder from the tournament last year.
No. 8 seed Nick Sulzer (R-So., Cleveland, Ohio) went to overtime for the second straight match today and picked up a 3-1 win over No. 9 seed Josh Veltre of Bloomsburg in the first tiebreaker period at 165. Sulzer reversed Veltre during the rideout and maintained the advantage the rest of the tiebreaker to seal the win. He won his first bout of the day, 4-2, in sudden-victory time over Stanford’s Bret Baumbach. Sulzer will wrestle top seed and three-time national champion Kyle Dake of Cornell in the quarterfinals Friday.
Five Cavaliers remain alive in the wrestlebacks. No. 11 seed George DiCamillo (Fr., Highland Heights, Ohio) bounced back from a first-round loss at 133 pounds to Boston University’s Dane Harlowe by eliminating Virginia Tech’s Erik Spjut, 6-1. It was DiCamillo’s fourth win over the Hokie this year. He advances to wrestle Rutgers’ Vincent Dellafave Friday.
2011 All-American Derek Valenti (R-Sr., Newton, N.J.) picked up a solid 8-4 win over Cornell’s Chris Villalonga in the first round before losing a 13-3 major decision to undefeated Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State, the top seed at 149. Valenti will wrestle Utah Valley’s Josh Wilson Friday in the wrestlebacks.
Jon Fausey (R-Jr., Dalmatia, Pa.) won his opener at 174, 3-0, over Columbia’s Stephen West before dropping a 4-0 decision to top-seeded Chris Perry of Oklahoma State. He will wrestle Missouri’s Todd Porter in the wrestlebacks and look to avenge a pair of losses to Porter from earlier this season.
In his first NCAA appearance, Stephen Doty (R-Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) lost 6-4 in the 184 pigtail match to Iowa State’s Boaz Beard but bounced back for a pair of wins. He downed Campbell’s James Cook (5-2) and Wyoming’s Shane Woods (6-2) and now will wrestle eighth-seeded Josh Ihnen of Nebraska Friday.
Mike Salopek (R-Sr., North Huntingdon, Pa.) advanced to the Friday morning session following an 8-3 win over Rider’s Donald McNeil in the 197 wrestleback round. Salopek fell 5-3 in sudden-victory time to Drexel’s Brandon Palik in the opener. He now will face Ohio University’s Phil Wellington Friday; Salopek handed Wellington an 11-3 major decision defeat on the opening day of the season (Nov. 3).
Joe Spisak (R-So., Boiling Springs, Pa.) was eliminated at 141 after a pair of 8-5 losses. He dropped a hard-fought opening-round bout to top-seeded and undefeated Hunter Steiber of Ohio State. In the wrestlebacks, he had a 3-0 lead in the third period but the tide quickly turned on a takedown and three-point near fall as Oklahoma State’s Julian Feikert went on to the 8-5 win. Spisak finishes the year with a 21-7 record.
Championship Schedule (all times Eastern)
Session III – Friday, 11 a.m. (ESPNU/ESPN3)
Session IV – Friday, 7 p.m. (ESPNU)
Session V – Saturday, 11 a.m. (ESPNU)
Session VI – Saturday, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
Team Standings (top 20)
1. Penn State, 32.5
2. Oklahoma St., 29
3. Minnesota, 24
4. Iowa, 22
5. Oregon St., 16
6. Missouri, 14.5
6. Ohio St., 14.5
8. Nebraska, 13.5
9. Oklahoma, 13
10. Boise State, 12
10. Cornell, 12
12. Illinois, 11.5
12. Iowa St., 11.5
14. North Carolina, 11.5
15. Northern Iowa, 11
16. Virginia Tech, 10.5
16. Wyoming, 10.5
18. Virginia, 10
19. Edinboro, 9.5
19. Pittsburgh, 9.5
Virginia Results and Friday Morning Matches
No. 8 seed Matt Snyder – 125
1st Rd = dec. Rob Deutsch (ODU), 10-4
2nd Rd – dec. No. 9 seed Trent Sprenkle (North Dakota State), 10-6
Quarterfinals – No. 1 seed Alan Waters (Missouri)
No. 11 seed George DiCamillo – 133
1st Rd – Dane Harlowe (Boston U) dec. DiCamillo, 8-7
Conso 1st Rd – dec. Erik Spjut (Virginia Tech), 6-1
Conso 2nd Rd – Vincent Dellafave (Rutgers)
Joe Spisak – 141
1st Rd – No. 1 seed Hunter Stieber (Ohio State) dec. Spisak, 8-5
Conso 1st Rd – Julian Felkert (Oklahoma State) dec. Spisak, 8-5
Derek Valenti – 149
1st Rd – dec. Christopher Villalonga (Cornell), 8-4
2nd Rd – No. 1 seed Jordan Oliver (Oklahoma State) major dec. Valenti, 13-3
Conso 2nd Rd – Josh Wilson (Utah Valley)
No. 12 seed Jedd Moore – 157
1st Rd – dec. Cody Pack (North Dakota State), 6-0
2nd Rd – dec. No. 5 seed James Fleming, 4-0 (Clarion)
Quarterfinals – David Bonin (Northern Iowa)
No. 8 seed Nick Sulzer – 165
1st Rd – dec. Bret Baumbach (Stanford), 4-2 (SV)
2nd Rd – dec. No. 9 seed Josh Veltre (Bloomsburg), 3-1 (TB-1)
Quarterfinals – No. 1 Kyle Dake (Cornell)
Jon Fausey – 174
1st Rd – dec. Stephen West (Columbia), 3-0
2nd Rd – No. 1 seed Chris Perry (Oklahoma State) dec. Fausey, 4-0
Conso 2nd Rd – Todd Porter (Missouri)
Stephen Doty – 184
Pigtail – Boaz Beard (Iowa State) dec. Doty, 6-4
Conso Pigtail – dec. James Cook (Campbell), 5-2
Conso 1st Rd – dec. Shane Woods (Wyoming), 6-2
Conso 2nd Rd – No. 8 seed Josh Ihnen (Nebraska)
Mike Salopek – 197
1st Rd – Brandon Palik (Drexel) dec. Salopek, 5-3 (SV)
Conso 1st Rd – Donald McNeil (Rider), 8-3
Conso 2nd Rd – Phil Wellington (Ohio University)